Laissez Les Bon Temps Rouler
by 22-Ti
Summary: Let the good times roll! Mardi Gras is the traditional party leading up to Ash Wednesday. Just wait until Beca finds out what Chloe is giving up for Lent. Part Four of the Major Follies series.


Chloe lay next to Beca, neither wanting to crawl out of their bed, their bubble since it would mean going back into the real world. Both the women loved their Sundays because those were the only days that neither had to work unless Chloe had an emergency arise at the clinic. The couple could spend all day in bed if they so chose or at least until Beca's stomach started gurgling which is usually what pulled them into reality.

The redhead threw her leg over her girlfriend and pulled the sheet around her as she straddled Beca. Beca's grin was mischievous, growing borderline cheesy. She reached up and cupped a breast in each palm. "I could get used to this."

"I'd like that." Chloe bent over and brushed her lips across Beca's whose hips involuntarily lifted off the bed to press into her girlfriend. The redhead's soft lips ghosted the brunette's neck caused her to squirm slightly.

"Hmmhm. I'll give you exactly two hours to stop that." Chloe sat up slightly and peered down with an odd look. Chloe's intense stare made her nervous. "What?"

"Remember that 'I'm Jewish' talk we had to which I responded 'yeah, but it's no big deal'?" Beca nodded her head. "I need to come clean. What I didn't tell you was that I grew up Catholic. Like Catholic school, Mass at least twice a week, confessionals, the entire works."

"Noooooooooo, so tell me – how many times did a nun rap your knuckles with a ruler?" When Chloe reached down and goosed Beca beneath her arms, the brunette squealed. "Hey! I'm kidding; I'm kidding. You being Catholic is like no big deal."

"Actually, you are spot on with the knuckles getting rapped deal. I'm too young for that type of punishment. But my dad had awful stories about his time with Sister Abigal. She didn't take flak from anyone. I had her for the same classes. Apparently, she'd mellowed with age and there was no use of the rulers against my knuckles."

Chloe laid back down beside Beca and started drawing circles on her stomach. As chill bumps spread across her arms, she looked over at the redhead who had settled beside her. "Well, Ash Wednesday is less than two weeks away."

"What's that? I'm pretty Catholic-dumb." She received a swat on her bare tummy for that. "Ow!"

"None of that talk. Don't call yourself dumb. You've taught me about some Jewish things, so now it's my turn to teach you some Catholic things. Now, Ash Wednesday is the start of Lent, which lasts forty days, the time Jesus spent in the woods to fast, pray, and endure devilish temptations. Then Lent ends on the Saturday before Easter."

Beca did a few mental calculations before speaking. "Ummm Chloe, that's forty-six days, not forty." Her girlfriend waved her off. "Why are you telling me now? I mean, we are in bed… naked… and you are talking religion." She ran her hands over Chloe's bare shoulders, causing her to giggle.

"Tradition has Catholics giving up something for Lent to represent Jesus's sacrifices in the forest. I haven't given up anything serious up for Lent since before vet school. During college, that time was more like giving up rainbow goldfish crackers and sour gummy worms. I wasn't exactly a bad Catholic, but those weren't serious sacrifices. Don't take this the wrong way, but I've decided what I'm giving up this year." Beca raised her eyebrows. "Sex." Chloe cringed as Beca let out a scream.

The brunette abruptly sat up, accidentally knocking Chloe off her chest. "Wait. Did I hear you right? You are giving up sex. For over a month." The redhead was biting her lower lip as she watched her girlfriend's reaction. "Why can't you give up soda? Or chocolate even? Sex? Seriously?"

Chloe scooted over and wrapped her arms around Beca's waist. "Those don't mean anything to me. Sex is something that's important to me, not to mention I enjoy it immensely. This will be challenging, and after so many years celebrating Lent with what I felt were cop-outs, I wanted this year's sacrifice to mean something."

After they talked a bit more and Beca began to understand the importance of Lent and what Chloe was doing, she accepted the ultimate sacrifice that would challenge them both. Beca groaned as she rolled over. "Okay, Noah, move over. Forty days and forty nights of rain on the ark has nothing on me. I will support you in this, Chloe. But only if you make me those Southwest Avocado omelets I love so much for breakfast this morning."

With their normal sexy Sunday mood thoroughly ruined, the couple crawled out of bed and went to the kitchen for breakfast.

* * *

As the couple enjoyed their breakfast, Chloe excitedly talked about some of the events leading up to the start of Lent. "The city of New Orleans is the king of celebrating Mardi Gras, well the entire state of Louisiana really. Mardi Grad is the two weeks leading up to Ash Wednesday which is the official start of Lent."

"I've heard New Orleans throws a hell of a party!"

"Oh indeed, tons of drinking, more than seventy parades over two weeks, bead throwing, and more. If we can, I'd like to decorate the clinic today with a Mardi Gras theme. Time to replace the red and hearts with gold, green, and purple along with fleur de lis and tons of masks."

"Do the colors have significance?"

"Yep. Purple stands for justice, green for faith, and gold for power. I've heard the colors and meanings were established in the 1890's. Talk about an extended history."

The couple talked about the massive number of parades that took place in New Orleans alone. "I want to invite our customers to two parades, maybe have contests even. I'm sure Stacie could even get some of her customers to participate, as well. I want to make a play off NOLA's Krewe of Bacchus with a Krewe of Barkus then add a Krewe of Meowus, of course."

"Hey! What about Major and Bea?" Beca tried to act offended.

"They can march in whatever parade they want. Hell, animals aren't even required. We just need to have fun and throw a good party!"

* * *

Over the new few days, the signs went up about the celebrations, parade contests, and such. Chloe found pictures of various Mardi Gras floats to post around the clinic. Krewe of Meowus would be the Saturday afternoon before Ash Wednesday, while Krewe of Barkus would be the following Sunday afternoon. Other animals, such as birds and guinea pigs, were welcome at either parade.

Stacie strongly encouraged her customers to participate and even gave discounts for customers who had dogs groomed especially for the celebrations. Her favorite was a full-sized standard poodle whose owners let Stacie have free choice to dye their dog in purple, gold, and green colors. The groomer also took the liberty to shave a fleur de lis on one side.

After visiting a few resale shops, Beca picked up several old wagons. She sat one aside for herself but provided the others to children who wanted to decorate "floats" or who had cats. She also contributed some cardboard boxes for the littles who just wanted to drag something.

Chloe sent one of her vet techs to Party City to pick up additional decorations for the "floats." The boxes had already been spray-painted in various Mardi Gras colors, but there was lots of paper streamers, beads, and décor. While parents were in exam rooms with their animals, children could stay in the waiting area and decorate a float for themselves or one of the community floats. Customers and staff alike were excited about the upcoming festivities.

* * *

"Tell me more about this Mardi Gras celebration that ends on Ash Wednesday." Beca didn't mention which starts my forty-day dry spell.

"Ash Wednesday marks the start of the Lent period leading up to Easter, which was is when Christians believe Jesus was resurrected. During this time, we show repentance and mourning for our sins since Christ died for our sins."

"During Mass, a priest places ashes on the forehead of the congregants. The ashes symbolize the dust from which God made us. Some say they symbolize grief caused by our sins and wearing the ashes is a visible symbol of penance. Anyway, the ashes come from blessed palm branches, taken from the previous year's Palm Sunday Mass."

Beca nodded. "Interesting traditions you Catholics have."

"Oh no, all Christians are invited to participate. And non-Christians and even persons who have been excommunicated from the church can receive ashes. Most of us will then go home after Mass and stay at home, the whole prayer and fasting thing."

"Then there's Shrove Tuesday, or in New Orleans known as Fat Tuesday. That's the day before Ash Wednesday – the culmination of Mardi Gras before Lent begins. The actual French translation of Mardi Gras – Mardi is Tuesday and Gras is Fat – is Fat Tuesday. We indulge ourselves in those rich, fatty foods before the fasting of Lent. So traditionally, Fat Tuesday is for pancakes."

"Hey, what if I do a pancake dinner fundraiser, well a lunch really? All-You-Can-Eat. You can start selling tickets and sell day of, too. The proceeds can go to the animal shelter you work with. They can sell tickets, as well. I make a mean pancake, and I bet my apartment wouldn't mind me setting up over there in front of the building."

Chloe agreed that sounded like that would be a good idea and said she'd contact the shelter. "They have a great graphic designer who volunteers there who can make some flyers. I'll give them a call."

* * *

Not surprisingly, the weekend before Lent was a busy one at the Beale Small Animal Clinic. Beca had spent a great deal of time working on her guinea pig 'float,' spray-painting the wagon in Mardi Gras colors and lining the bottom with gold burlap. She festooned decorations all around the pigs' ride and had beads piled in each corner. The pigs had a fly ride, for sure.

Of course, on Saturday, both guinea pigs wore t-shirts. Bea's said _Bead Whore_ while Major's said _We Don't Hide the Crazy, We Parade It Down the Street_. As the customers lined up, Beca positioned the guinea pigs' masks on their heads and fastened small straps to keep them in place.

Because the Krewe of Meowus focused mainly on cats, Beca kept the music low-key – a little jazz mixed with bluegrass. Observers lined the sidewalk, with children sitting cross-legged on the curb in hopes of catching beads and other things thrown from the 'floats.' The cats and other animals were quite well-behaved, much to the surprise of the clinic staff.

Two prizes were available for the Krewe of Meowus parade – one for Best Decorated Ride and another for Best Decorated Pet. Beca knew that the awards were more for the customers and didn't expect to be in the running for the awards. Best Decorated Ride went to a middle-aged woman with a Persian cat, Petey. Petey was so chill and relaxed with beads draped around his neck. His mom did an excellent job maneuvering his wagon while tossing beads to the crowd.

The Best Decorated Pet went to a group of kittens the shelter brought over. A costumed volunteer carried one of each of three siblings. The kittens each had their own Mardi Gras color of decoration with tons of ribbons around her neck.

Once the parade was over, the clinic served fresh-made benights and chicory coffee. Stacie had also ordered some sweet treats directly from The Big Easy like pralines, Roman taffy, and King Cake. Since most the kitties were safely in the clinic or out of the area, Beca cranked the music up some then placed Major on her shoulder as she went to put goodies on her plate.

* * *

Sunday was a busy day for the clinic. Not only was the Krewe of Barkus parade happening, Beca's studio was hosting a massive crawfish boil. Her boss was enjoying hearing about the different events Chloe's clinic did for her community and wanted to participate in the festivities. Besides, Cajun food was relatively tricky to find in the city, and who doesn't like crawfish?

Beca was hesitant to get out of bed so early since this was her last "lazy Sunday" with her girlfriend before Lent began, and the couple entered their dry spell. But she wasn't one to shirk her responsibilities so crawled out of bed after kissing the sleeping redhead on her shoulder before heading to the shower.

The music producer often showered with the bathroom lights shut off as it felt peaceful. She loved the shower in this apartment since it was a double shower with a door rather than a tub and curtain.

A metal click and a light cool breeze let her know that Chloe was joining her. "Chlo? What are you doing?"

Chloe reached in, trailing her fingers across Beca's breasts. "Joining you?"

"You say that like it's a question." Beca reached over to grasp the redhead's elbow and pull her under the streaming water before pressing lips against her neck. "Do you like this, Chlo?"

"Mmmm," Chloe hummed appreciatively, trailing her fingers up Beca's hands that were holding her hips then traced Beca's arms up to her elbows. The brunette's soft lips against her neck made her shudder as she stretched her neck taut. Beca's right hand slid to the small of Chloe's back, moving down to her ass. Beca pulled her closer, sucking gently on her neck.

Chloe took her turn in pulled Beca closer, pressing her breasts against Beca's chest who responded by kissing up Chloe's neck to her mouth. Chloe shuddered in anticipation. Beca whispered through the kiss, "Chloe, you are so so so erotic." She pressed her hands against Chloe's hips, pushing her back some. "But we have things to do today."

"But Becs," Chloe whined. "Today is Sunday, and we only have two days left."

Beca grinned as she responded, "hey baby. Your Lent decisions are yours."

* * *

The studio had several hundred pounds of crawfish overnighted from Louisiana and picked up quite a bit of shrimp from local purveyors. Andouille sausage, corn on the cob, and new red potatoes were the perfect accompaniments.

After Beca readied herself for the long day, she made her way over to the small animal clinic and dragged the water-filled coolers of live mudbugs across to her apartment building. The crustaceans had spent the night purging off their more undesirable innards. Stacie soon arrived with more of the fixings and helped Beca set up the cooking as well as the serving stations, which consisted of long fold-up tables covered in newspaper. Stacie did argue with her friend a bit about the appropriateness of her t-shirt. Finally, Beca relented and let Stacie keep wearing her shirt with a crawfish on it that stated _It Ain't Gonna Suck Itself._

The Krewe of Barkus parade went as splendidly as the one the afternoon before. Music was more loud, rowdy zydeco music mixed with lively jazz. More customers participated with much more wildly decorated dogs. One of Chloe's vet techs acted as the Grand Marshall, marching with a decorated scepter, as she pulled Major and Bea around in their wagon. The red and white guinea pig was wearing another Mardi Gras themed shirt which said _Throw Me Something Mista_ while the tan guinea pig's shirt stated _What Happens on the Float Stays on the Float_. Both had new masks because who can wear the same mask two parades in a row?

Kids dressed with masks and beads walked their dogs or dragged decorated boxes down the short "parade route." The crowd of observers cat-called and hollered for the kids to throw them something. The kids beamed with pride as they chunked handfuls of beads to the people cheering on the side of the street.

The best part about the Krewe of Barkus parade is that every shelter dog which was available for adoption had a volunteer walking it with some dogs even pulling little cardboard boxes like floats. Later, Chloe found out that over a third of the shelter dogs at the parade ended up with furever homes within a week of the march of dogs.

Because vet techs had taken care of Major and Bea, Beca and Stacie were able to assist with the crawfish boil. The dog groomer fired up the two eighty quart stainless pots on top of jet burners. Beca tossed in the spices while they waited for the water to come to a boil. Since she'd purged the crawfish the night before, she only lacked pulling out the dead crawdads.

Once the seasoned water came to a boil, Stacie tossed in the potatoes, corn, garlic, and sausage. After a solid ten minute boil, Beca used her wire scoop and dumped in the live crawfish to cook. After the appropriate cook and rest times, the crawdads were drained and dumped down the newspaper lined tables. As the customers fell on the fresh mudbugs, she and Stacie started two more batches.

The New York City Beale Small Animal Clinic Mardi Gras parades were definite successes.

* * *

Beca took off work on Monday and Tuesday to get ready for Tuesday's pancake lunch fundraiser. The shelter's volunteer graphic designer had made great advertisements for the Pancake Lunch, Fat Tuesday, and ShroveTuesday. More people seemed familiar with Fat Tuesday because of Mardi Gras season in New Orleans, but the Shrove Tuesday term was a bit new. People still wore their best Mardi Gras decorations with tons of beads draped around their neck. Beca wore a shirt Chloe had found her. Everywhere Else, It's Just a Regular Tuesday.

One little boy, festooned with beads, eating his weight in pancakes, was happy to share the background of Shrove or Fat Tuesday with anyone who listened. "Sister Abigail told us all about Shrove Tuesday in school. Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday which marks the start of Lent, forty days of fasting and abstinence in the weeks leading up to Easter. Forty days is how long Jesus spent fasting in the desert."

"So Pancake Day, that's today," he paused to shove another forkful of pancakes into his mouth. "became a way to use up all the good foods like milk, eggs and flour before the fasting started." He waved his pancake laden fork in the air. "This is my favorite day of the year." He grinned as he stuffed the fork of food into his mouth.

* * *

"Are you going with me to Mass tomorrow?" Chloe pushed herself up on one elbow and looked down at her girlfriend before she leaned down and pressed her lips against Beca's who returned the kiss before turning her head sideways.

"I'm not so sure about that, Chlo. I'd… feel weird. I mean, I'm Jewish, and this is a Catholic tradition." She shifted uncomfortably under the covers as she thought about things. "Who is Jesus to you, Chloe, to your religion?"

After some consideration, Chloe spoke. "Simply put, we believe Jesus is the messiah, the son of God. What about you? Is Jesus prevalent in the Jewish religion?"

Beca chuckled. "Well, he was a Jew, for sure. Some have come to regard him as a Jewish teacher. But the Jewish religion doesn't believe Jesus was raised from the dead or was the messiah."

After additional conversation where Chloe again assured her girlfriend that anyone could receive ashes, Beca agreed to go with her. "What other biggies do I need to know about?"

"No meat or chicken on Ash Wednesday or any Friday until after Easter – basically any warm-blooded animal, but fish is okay."

"That sounds almost Jewish," Beca chuckled.

"You know, I think those rules originated with some of your religion."

* * *

Chloe decided to attend an early Mass to receive her ashes to be able to work a full day at the clinic. As the ceremony was underway, Chloe could feel Beca nervously squirming next to her. The redhead patted her leg and gave her girlfriend's a comforting squeeze. When their turn to receive ashes came, Beca screwed her eyes shut and involuntarily flinched when the priest marked her forehead with the cross of ashes. Her anxiety built until she was soon hyperventilating and rushed out of the church.

Despite Chloe's assurances that she could receive ashes, Beca felt weird being in the church as a Jew participating in a very Catholic tradition. She made a beeline home and scooped Major from his cage and sat on the floor, cuddling him with her face pressed into his fur. He started happily chirping away as he licked her face with his rough tongue to calm her.

When Beca's FaceTime tone rang, she knew Chloe was probably calling to check on her. She scrubbed the dried tears from her cheeks before answering.

"Hey, Becs." Chloe's voice was soft and gentle. "You okay?"

"Yeah, you know me. I just freaked out a little. Major's here, though."

"Good." As Beca looked at her girlfriend's image on her phone, she realized Chloe still wore her ash cross.

"Do I need to keep my cross all day?"

Chloe laughed. "That's a silly question since you've already washed yours off." She flashed a smile so Beca would know it was okay.

"Huh?" Beca looked more closely at her own, smaller image on the phone. "I'll be damned." When she had answered the phone, she'd put Major in her lap. She picked him up with one hand and began to laugh.

"Beca?"

The brunette turned Major to face the camera so Chloe could laugh as well. A little black ash ring was around Major's mouth where he'd licked off Beca's issues. "Guess he knew why I was upset."

* * *

Beca had stayed at her place alone since Ash Wednesday, not because of what happened but to respect Chloe's decision about Lent. She claimed she was playing her part in keeping Chloe from temptations when in truth, she was battling her own enticements. She knew she needed to keep her hands to herself, literally. Knowing how long it was until Easter, Beca jumped online and ordered herself a slew of toys to keep herself occupied. Until her order came in, she knew her task of keeping her hands off Chloe would be easier if she slept alone.

When she crawled into bed on Saturday, Beca couldn't help but be a little sad. She and Chloe had always reserved Sundays for each other and not getting out of bed until Beca's stomach demanded food. This would be the first Sunday they had not spent together in quite some time.

She was deep asleep when she slowly became aware of a warm body beside her. Beca struggled awake and realized that she was indeed not dreaming. Chloe's arm had slipped beneath her sleep shirt and was rubbing her bare stomach. "Mmmm, Chloe. As good as this feels, aren't you forgetting something?"

Chloe murmured a negative response as she began to run her tongue over Beca's shoulder. "After midnight."

As Beca's mind slowly became more lucid, she realized her girlfriend wasn't making much sense. She was resisting turning over because the moment she did, she'd be a lost cause and Chloe would have broken Lent. Beca did not want to contribute to that. "Chlo," she said sharply.

The redhead dipped her hand into Beca's pajama bottoms. "Mmmm, Becs. I've missed you."

"Gawd, Chloe. Stop." Beca half-heartedly reached down and tried to pull Chloe's hand from her shorts. "Baaaaaaaaaaabe," she whined.

"It's okay, Beca." Chloe grabbed her girlfriend's shoulders and turned her over. She lifted Beca's shirt and began to suck on her breast. "Let loose baby." She maneuvered her body to where her crotch was pressed against Beca's leg. "Just enjoy."

The brunette began to squirm as she kept trying to get from under Chloe's death grip. "Chlo, what about Lent? You gave up sex for Lent. Remember my Noah joke?"

Chloe moved from Beca's breast from her neck. "Mmmm but it's after midnight."

"Why do you keep saying that?"

"Remember, Lent is forty days and not forty-six." Beca nodded. "Sunday's don't count."

"Well, hell, Chloe. Don't you think you could have mentioned that a long time ago?"


End file.
